


Double-O Seven

by SleeplessInGeneral



Series: What About Your Camp Spirit? [6]
Category: Dead of Summer (TV)
Genre: mentions of mental disorders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:05:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8127946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleeplessInGeneral/pseuds/SleeplessInGeneral
Summary: Joel had no idea what he wanted his movie to be about. He knew he wanted to make a movie, he just didn't know what he wanted it to be about. But then something clicked.And that's why he's currently filming around the yard of a psychiatric institute, filming one of his friends under some stupid made-up excuse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The rating system used in the first part is the one used in the psychiatric institute my cousin is hospitalized at. It makes a lot of sense and it makes describing how things go much, much easier, which is why I used it. Please understand that I am not trying to say that I am an expert on the subject, this is simply me utilizing some information my cousin has given me over a period of time about her life at a psychiatric institute.

Joel had no idea what he wanted his movie to be about.

"I'm sorry, but you can't bring your camera to his room. I'll hold it for you until you get out."

Joel reluctantly handed his camera over to the nurse. He really wanted to film his documentary, but he supposed it could wait. His mother pulled his hand.

"Come on, Joel. I have no time and I want to see your brother."

"I'm coming."

He let the nurse and his camera disappear from his sight and followed his mother to his brother's room. Michael looked terrible. Absolutely terrible. They haven't seen each other since May, when Michael was taken to the hospital, and it was now November. And Joel couldn't see him like this, but he forced himself to. His brother was always happy, not the shell of a man.

"Do you lose as gracefully as you win?" he offered and saw his brother's face light up with a smile.

"I don't know, I've never lost." Michael got up and opened his arms. Joel ran to him as quickly as he possibly could. "I missed you, buddy."

"I missed you too."

"Hello there, Michael."

"Hey, mom. I missed you too." He hugged her shortly and then grabbed Joel by his shoulders. "How was camp this summer?"

"It was alright." Joel pulled his shoulders. "It's not fun when you're not there. Team Blue won the color wars again."

"Did Alex make a huge scene of it?"

"He wouldn't be Alex if he didn't make a huge scene of it. But Jessie didn't react as terribly as she usually does." Michael led Joel to sit on his bed. "And Becky asked me to tell you that it's not as fun if you're not there, so that makes two of us on that boat."

"Well, you can tell Becky that I invite her to visit me and see how much fun I'm having here all by myself."

"What level are you right now, Michael?" Their mother asked, crossing her arms.

"Currently C. Doctor Fischbach says it has more to do with the time I've been here and less with my improvement, but a couple more months and I'm a level D."

"Which means?"

"I'll be able to leave one day of the week and on the weekends, under parental supervision." His smile dropped. "Right now I can't really get out of here. I just got to level C, which means I can leave for a couple of hours on the weekends under supervision and then I must come here before curfew."

"That's quick to get to level C."

"Yeah. Mostly good behavior though."

"That sucks," Joel muttered. "But what's going to happen with Becky? Isn't she studying in Montclair State?"

"We talked about this over the phone, Joel. Don't worry, she's still a possible sister-in-law of yours."

"So, how are your roommates?" Their mother asked after a moment of silence. "Are they still too much?"

"They're fine, I suppose. Archie started working on his degree. He doesn't speak to anyone most of the time. He's probably going to relapse soon and they'll take him down a few levels."

"That's disappointing. He's such a nice guy!"

"Yeah, he is. But he's got free mornings, he only has to be here from mid-afternoon till the next day, so no one can really monitor his diet. I don't understand that. It's what his mom said the last time she was here. And Ben is now…"

Michael kept talking about roommates, and Joel lost focus. He couldn't without his camera. He really couldn't. He wanted to film his thing, but he just… He couldn't.

"…and Fischbach has this one patient, I think she's Joel's age. She's always around here and I don't know what's going on with her." Michael finally sat down next to Joel and ruffled his hair. "I heard some of the nurses say that psychopath is a harsh word for a girl like her, but I think that's why she's in therapy here specifically and not with a regular youth psychologist."

"But she's Joel's age." Their mother looked a bit shocked. "Why would they call her a psychopath? It's a harsh word."

"It's a mental condition," Joel stated. "Isn't this a mental institute?"

And then Michael and his mom started laughing. And he did too.

* * *

 

Joel had no idea what he wanted his movie to be about.

"Hey, Spielberg," Jessie called to him with a bright smile and came to sit next to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just thinking." He turned his camera to her. "Why aren't you with Andrea or Townie?"

"Andy's got a phone call regarding hi- her dad's condition and Garrett didn't come back," she told him with a tilt of her head. "Whatever happened to his dad was apparently either really awful or really devastating."

"What happened to his dad?"

"Whose?"

"…Townie's. Who else has…?"

"Oh! Oh. Sorry, I was out of it." She turned her head from him and he turned his camera from her. "His dad was shot last summer. I don't remember the details. All I remember is that he was shot, and then his mom came to pick him up and there was a lot of crying and now there's a new sheriff. So he's no longer the sheriff's son, so he doesn't get to come here free, so he can't come here anymore. Financial issues."

"How do you know all that?!"

"We talk on the phone. There's this thing called phones. One would think you, who is glued to a camera, would know of the existence of such magical devices as phones."

"Oh. Right. Forgot about that possibility. And Andrea?"

"Andrea's dad has a heart condition. So hi- her mom keeps her updated on everything."

Jessie took a deep breath and just sat there, looking at the lake. Joel kept filming the whole thing. And then Alex interrupted their peace.

"Woody Allen," he called from a relatively short distance. "What are you filming?"

"Just random things. I'm trying to get inspiration for a movie."

"How's Michael doing?" Alex asked, jumping to sit next to Joel.

"He's getting there. He's a level D, but it will take time –"

"He's a what?"

"A level D. He's allowed to be home one day of the week and over the weekends, under supervision. It's this mental institute thing."

"Speaking of mental institutes. I know someone who needs to be locked in one. She's creepy, dude. Legit creepy." He went on to describe her – she's blonde, she's pretty nice but she has some very freaky behavior, one time she ran away from school after drawing some very creepy graffiti on the classroom walls and desks, and she claims to talk to a demon. She even talks to herself a lot. And Joel didn't really get it.

"So how is she creepy?"

"Well, at first, you don't really notice it." Alex put his arm around Joel's shoulders. "But then you look into it more, and then it hits you. She's not really nice or friendly. She doesn't do it because she's nice or friendly. She does it because it's the custom. I heard teachers say she's a psychopath."

And then Joel knew what he wanted his movie to be about.

"Alex, thanks."

"Thanks for what?"

"Nothing. Just a movie idea."

"A movie idea isn't nothing."

Joel then jumped from the fence and took his camera, running into cabin ten. He needed to write that down. He had to write that down. A movie about one of psychiatry's greatest mysteries.

A movie about psychopaths.


End file.
